Blood Eclipse

It's supposed to be a blood moon, a full moon with the appearance of looking like blood and it coincides with the season of Easter/Eostre/Ostara. Most people like to associate blood moons with disaster and death. The sight of a blood moon is an effect caused by a shadow of sunlight during a lunar eclipse. Then there is the mystery of a lunar eclipse and strange things that have happened during it. Once you presume that, you look for things that are not even there. The moon has been very bright last night and I couldn't sleep at all. I was too busy running through the woods on all fours, howling, or maybe not. I was just kidding. I was having strange visions though.

Death and destruction happens all the time and a blood moon isn't a post. It's a mirror and a clock. What's been around and goes round in a circle comes back again. Time itself is round and just like a clock, and just as the cycles of a year and the orbits of the worlds, we go around in a circle.

Many modern people are wary of blood moons. Blood moons are just like the numbers on a clock. People shouldn't be scared of blood moons as much as they shouldn't be scared of 12:00 hrs but some really are!

Yes the moon has an effect on people. The full moon certainly turns people a bit funny and crazy. Werewolves come out during the full moon. It's when people are prone to aggression and carnal madness, and when sleep patterns are disturbed and when the water changes.

When a woman is menstruating during a lunar eclipse, and even during a blood moon, it's called a Sanguine Moon and a Fire Moon. The triple goddess mothers (Earth Mother/Erda, Solar Mother/Sunna and Moon Mother) make that rare visit to observe life and do work. So it's advisable not to practice any form of occult magic during this phase but to rest, labour as normal and chill.

However humans are prone to let their instincts take over and behave unrestrained, very paranoid, disrespectful of others, manic, hungrier, insomnia, anger and yes lycanthropy. I'm probably guilty of this if I'm not careful.

Tips on how to survive a blood moon: It's best to shut the curtains or blinds. Hide out the view and read a book or watch TV. Don't go out or make any spells. Avoid alcohol and other drugs. Drink plenty of water and have some salad.

      

Enchanted flowers: Forget-me-not

Spring is here and already dozens of new flowers are appearing. Wild flowers of many varieties cluster on the lawns, gardens, woodlands, riverbanks, parks and pathways. There are also blossoms on brambles and trees, that rain petals of honey scented confetti, and bees and butterflies swarm to them.

The common feature on the grasses in April are various blue flowers, violets, periwinkle and forget-me-nots. These flowers are the colour of the sky. As there are many flowers in Spring, and many more flowers yet to bloom, this subject shifts onto any flower, and not just about a flower that appears right now.

Forget-me-not appears in April and onwards. It's other name is Myosotis, from the Greek word meaning "mouse ears". These are small delicate blue flowers with tiny yellow centres (stars) that grow in clusters and they like moisture and shade.

The flower is not actually associated with healing properties because of rumours that it may cause illness. Yet the flower has had known healing abilities. It was said to cure a dog's bite and a scorpions' sting. It's often symbolic of love, luck, charity and remembering. Once, people wore forget-me-nots to deter witches and bad spirits.

A story about a Medieval knight walking along the riverbank near Danube. He was with his girlfriend and he tried to pick forget-me-not flowers to give to her. His armour was so heavy that he fell into the river. As he was drowning, he clutched onto the flowers in his hand and called out "Forget me not!" Forget-me-nots are linked to royalty. Henry IV had forget-me-nots as his emblem in 1398. Forget-me-nots have been used as emblems for masonry, Alaska and the Alzheimer Society.  

   

     

Valkyrie Mist

One of the lesser known Valkyries of Norse and Germanic mythology is called Mist. Her name could be linked to an Old Norse word/name mistr to mean "cloudy" or "foggy".

The horses of the Valkyries were said to have manifested from air and water. Some of the Valkyries rode through mist and others appeared to be sunlike, bright, white as snow, feathers of white, swan maidens and white goddesses.

Mist was a "swan maiden" Valkyrie who was dressed in a long flowing white gown and a cloak of white feathers. Her hair was a golden honey colour and her eyes were pale grey. She was one of the "swan maidens" of ancient stories. She appeared on earth (Midgard) to bathe in pools and streams. She took on the shape of a swan, or looked like a swan when she was seen in her cloak. A shroud of mist enveloped her.

As the legend went, a man who sees a nymph, goddess, Valkyrie and swan maiden bathing is usually blinded. However, the swan maiden is vulnerable. If a man steals her cloak of feathers, she remains trapped on Midgard and is bound to the man as his wife. There are stories like this but nothing to indicate it happened to Mist.

It's said that a wish can come true if you're holding a white swan's feather. The swan maidens were also called Wish Maidens. These maidens had mystical abilities that they were born with. They were immortal and virginal, and remained pure by their feathers and protected by their luminous armour whenever they wore those. They rode across the sky and settled to drink and dip in waters on the earth.

Mist appears in two poems: Grimnismal (Sayings of Grimnir), of the Poetic Edda, and Nafnaþulur of the Prose Edda. Those are epics and adventures of giants, monsters and men with references to the Valkyries.

Links:
Prose Edda
Poetic Edda 
Valkyries, wish maidens and swan maids
Swan Maidens
Picture is by artist Kirk Reinert